Assam govt urged to reduce registration rates

The Assam real estate and Infrastructure Developers Association (AREIDA)  has urged the government to reduce registration fees while selling or buying property and reduce the duty fees to promote real estate business in the state. The people of the state have to pay 8.5 per cent registration charges, the highest in the country. While the rate is five per cent in Mumbai, it’s only one per cent in Kolkata.
“It’s disappointing that the registration fees are still pegged at 8.5 per cent. This is putting a lot of burden on people, particularly those belonging to the middle income group, planning to buy houses in the city. We hope that the new government will take some corrective measures,” AREIDA President P K Sharma said.
The association has been seeking reduction in registration fees since the hike came into effect in 2007. It has even submitted representations to the then Guwahati development department minister seeking a cut-off in the rates. Sharma said chief minister Tarun Gogoi had in April ordered an investigation into the ‘abnormal rise’ in prices of cement and iron rods. “But so far there’s no outcome,” the Areida president added.
Gogoi had directed the chief secretary to get the probe done by a senior officer and find out if the price rise was artificial. The chief secretary was supposed to intimate the CM about the action taken by April 28. “The deadline is over, but not the investigation. It’s a matter of concern,” Sharma added.